Half way to our Christmas break and business still appears to be brisk in Wanganui.

The recession predicted by the Journalists and the Government may just happen because they are trying their best to stall our growth and ultimately prove themselves right. The economists must be disappointed they haven’t this power of persuasion.

I worry that we are hearing of more finance companies in trouble. Some appear to be specifically linked to the car industry but generally you do wonder if we continue to allow people to buy interest free with no payments until ‘two thousand and something’ or start paying when the equipment is out dated, inoperable or stolen, somehow someone is going to come the proverbial  ‘gutsa’.

These deals put enormous pressure on the smaller retailer who hasn’t a hope of competing. All round not a great help to either the smaller business or the people who can’t really afford the “true cost of credit” and debt servicing .

The costs to business and the community just keep mounting; for example -  Horizon’s growing it’s empire outside of it’s original scope, having to be paid for by increased rates; new regulations and compliance costs imposed  on  Local Govt. by Central Govt. filtering down as added overheads for businesses and their employees; NZ Post deciding that we will all have new postal codes ostensibly t to make their business more profitable but costing millions to NZ business with the changes to all  documentation, printing etc. But hey! it has to be a great decision for the printing industry though.

Back to some positive things in our city: The Hospital getting a green light from Government for the capital required for essential works is a positive start. The Chamber has also been busy progressing various positive things in the past weeks; we have met with Telecom and City Councillors in order to gain some traction in moving  ahead with widening the coverage of  Broadband in our Region and the Chamber has a commitment from Telecom to run a Business After 5  meeting in September for our members to bring us up to speed with future developments.

MP Chester Borrows and I have had a meeting with Chief Judge Russell Johnson in Wellington and have a commitment from him that we will have a residing Court Judge in Wanganui by Christmas. We had voiced our concern that our City was only being serviced by visiting Judges and that the main current visiting Judge was retiring with no announcement regarding permanently filling this position. Judge Johnson was totally up to speed with our situation. He has also arranged a visit in early July to Wanganui Court and to update us on progress.

One of our Chamber members Collegiate School, welcomes the involvement and interest of other Chamber members in school activities and events happening at the School and have invited members to all of their Lecture Series throughout the year. The School and in general all of our educational institutions bring considerable  business and wealth to our City. The ‘business” of education is a sizable and major contributor to the Wanganui economy.

As you will be aware the Chamber, and myself with other building owners, have assisted the Council with the Building Earthquake Policy. The outcome will provide a lot more time for businesses and building owners to comply with these regulations. Our worry was it may become cheaper to demolish our heritage buildings in short term, than to restore them over a manageable time.

The Chamber has been involved in running another in the series of Productivity Workshops for the business community and finds the response and benefits gained by participants very worthwhile.

We have met with Mark Scullion, Canadian Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner who has been looking at business opportunities between our City and his country. As most will know Ali Arc Industries in Wanganui has a manufacturing plant in Canada, which proves it can be done. Mark will be returning to our City in the not too distant future to speak at a Chamber Breakfast or similar.

Just a plug for our Business after 5’s; If you are interested in growing your business and your City, plus meeting other people in a local business you probably never new existed come to BA5’s. Sure it may be easier to just go home at five, but your support is needed and appreciated for the success of these events and you could be missing an opportunity to grow your business in your own town….It’s your choice. 

And finally the Chamber is again organising this years ABN Amro Craigs Business Awards; go to the workshops and discover how to enter, buy tickets for a fantastic event and get involved in your City.

Warren Ruscoe
President; Wanganui Chamber of Commerce.